You can appeal a Medicare premium when the extra amount comes from IRMAA — the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, the surcharge added to Part B and Part D premiums at higher incomes — by filing Form SSA-44 with Social Security, free of charge. The standard Part B premium itself, $202.90 a month in 2026 per CMS, is set by law and is not appealable; what can be corrected is the surcharge, when your income has dropped or the tax data behind it was wrong.
Revised: 7/24/26
Jason Baar
Fee-Only Medicare Advisor
NPN #2033715
It walks through Form SSA-44 step by step — the eight qualifying life events, the evidence that supports each one, and a worked example.
The guide is on its way — allow up to 10 minutes. If it hasn’t arrived by then, peek in your spam folder, and if it’s there, click “Not spam,” so the next person’s guide arrives where it belongs. You’re all set.
The long answer
Here’s the structural fact that makes these appeals work: the surcharge — paid by about 8% of people on Medicare, per CMS — is set from your tax return two years back. If a qualifying life-changing event has since lowered your income — a work stoppage or reduction, marriage, a divorce or annulment, the death of a spouse, a lost pension, income-producing property lost beyond your control, or an employer settlement — SSA-44 asks Social Security to use your income as it is now instead.
The form is a few pages: the event, its date, a documented estimate of this year’s income, and evidence that fits your event — an employer letter, a death certificate, a pension letter. If the numbers Social Security used were simply wrong or outdated, no form is needed; your local office can redo the determination from the corrected return.
One honest boundary: an appeal will not remove a surcharge based on income you genuinely had, such as a one-time gain — that kind of year clears on its own after one cycle. Keep paying the billed premium while an appeal is pending; if it is approved, the difference comes back.
Printed from JasonKnowsMedicare.com — “Medicare Premium Appeal: When a Higher Premium Can Be Corrected”. The free IRMAA Appeal Kit is available at tally.so/r/XxvNNO · Questions: (850) 810-1000
This page is educational information, not personal financial, tax, or legal advice. For decisions about your own situation, talk with a qualified professional.